Innocence is Overrated
by Gemini11
Summary: A photo shoot for Prue becomes a hellish nightmare!


"Hey, Pheebs?" Piper caught her sister's attention as she passed the doorway.  
  
Phoebe backtracked and stuck her head into her sister's room. "Yeah?"  
  
"Come in here for a second." Piper was sitting on her bed with photos spread out all around her.  
  
"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked curiously as she glanced at a few of their baby pictures.  
  
"Um…not now, which one?" She asked pointing to a group of pictures.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Which one do you think is the cutest?" Piper asked.  
  
Phoebe picked up the pictures and took a closer look at all of them. She finally let out a giggle and held one out to Piper. "This one."  
  
Piper looked and then snatched it from Phoebe. "No, Phoebe…that is embarrassing!"  
  
"But you were so cute when you were—"  
  
"Ah!" She interrupted. "Phoebe, if you know what's good for you, you will not finish that sentence."  
  
"Oh, all right." Phoebe said returning to the pictures in her hands. She flipped through them until one caught her attention. She paused and ran her finger over the picture.  
  
"Phoebe?" Piper asked, drawing her brows together in confusion. "Something wrong?"  
  
"No," Phoebe muttered. She slowly lowered herself to the bed. Piper looked over her shoulder at the picture. It was a photo of their mother; she was knelt down holding Prue in one arm, and Piper in the other.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry." Piper said reaching for the photo. "That wasn't supposed to be in that pile."  
  
Phoebe grabbed her hand and held it where it was. "It's okay." Phoebe said smiling. "I just wish I'd been a part of that life."  
  
"Phoebe, you were. You're even in this picture…right there." Piper pointed at their mother's tummy. "You're right in there."  
  
"I know, but I still wish I'd been around when—"  
  
"Phoebe, stop this…" Piper gave her sister's back a little rub. "Things happen for a reason. We all know this." She paused for a moment looking at the picture, and then she took it away and tossed it into another pile. "Now, which one?"  
  
"This one." Phoebe held out one of the three sisters as little children.  
  
"Perfect." Piper took it and put it in a box. "That's the last one."  
  
"What are you doing with all these pictures?"  
  
"You'll see soon enough." Piper said. "If you help me clean up, I'll take you out to lunch." Piper started brushing all the pictures into one pile. Phoebe helped pick them up and put them back into a tin box.  
  
"Lunch where?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Where they serve you food at a table…"  
  
"Oh, you smart ass."  
  
"I guess I am, aren't I?" Piper said with a giggle as she pushed the last stack of pictures into the box. "Now," She said straightening up and appraising her younger sister's pajamas. "You go get dressed. We'll grab something and eat in the park."  
  
"Great," Phoebe said as she got up to leave.  
  
"And Phoebe?"  
  
Phoebe turned at her sister's voice.  
  
"I'm sorry about the picture." Piper finished. "I know how sensitive a subject it is with you."  
  
"It's okay, Piper." Phoebe turned and headed towards the door. She grabbed the doorknob and paused. "Piper?" Piper looked up. "Will you tell me about her again at the park?"  
  
Piper smiled lightly to herself. "Sure will." She watched as Phoebe left feeling sorry for her baby sister. "So much you never got to know." Piper said to thin air.  
  
  
  
A bit later Phoebe was downstairs in the foyer waiting on Piper. She was eager to get going. "Piper! It'll be time for dinner by the time you make it down here."  
  
"I'm coming!" Piper shouted from upstairs.  
  
Phoebe was pacing back and forth when Prue came in the front door. Phoebe bumped into her as she was setting her camera bag down.  
  
"Whoa, Pheebs, wearing a groove into the floor?" Prue asked.  
  
"Just waiting on Piper."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah, we're going out to lunch. You wanna come?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Love to." Prue smiled. "But can't. Got a shoot in about ten minutes. Just came home to change my clothes." She pulled her jacket back to reveal a huge red stain on her shirt.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I was taking pictures of a group of little kids and one of them decided his fruit punch would look better dripping down the front of my favorite white shirt." Prue said with a deep breath. "Took ten minutes for my boss to calm me down, with a few cleaning tips as extra."  
  
"That's terrible." Phoebe said trying not to smile.  
  
"Yeah, well, aside from that the pictures will be great. Those little kids were so adorable." Prue glanced down at her watch. "Ooh, five minutes! You see how you distract me!" She pointed a finger at Phoebe while bounding up the stairs, just as Piper was coming down.  
  
"What happ—" Piper began pointing at her shirt.  
  
"Ask Pheebs." Prue interrupted. She hurried up the stairs with a wave.  
  
Piper turned a questioning look at Phoebe, and Phoebe just laughed. She grabbed Piper's hand and dragged her toward the door. "I'll explain on the way." She smiled.  
  
Piper reached out and grabbed her keys off a table as Phoebe pulled her along. They ran out to the Jeep and hopped in. Piper started the engine and pulled out of the driveway.  
  
"So? What's with Prue's shirt?" Piper asked as she drove them to the restaurant where their take out would be waiting.  
  
Phoebe told Piper what Prue had told her, and Piper laughed. "That's what happens around little kids."  
  
"Tsk, little kids are great, Piper."  
  
"Okay, Phoebe, do you remember little baby Matthew and all his crying? That was not great. Neither was his constant need to go potty." Piper said glancing over at her sister.  
  
"Well, so there are some downs, but you liked having him around…admit it."  
  
"He was cute, but like I said then, I'm in no hurry to have one."  
  
Phoebe smiled and pushed some of her hair out of her face. She sat back quietly as Piper pulled into the drive-thru at a little Chinese food place. She paid for their food, and then passed the little boxes over to Phoebe. Phoebe sat them in her lap, and then took the drinks that Piper passed over.  
  
"Hold on to those." Piper said as she drove out into the street. "Park's like two minutes away."  
  
"Since when does Chinese have drive-thru?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Since they wanted more business I guess."  
  
Piper took the drinks from Phoebe when she parked the Jeep. They got out, and Piper pointed at a little bench under a big tree. They sat down on the little bench opening their food.  
  
"So, what're all the pictures for?" Phoebe asked after a few bites.  
  
"I'm going to make a neat little scrap book for Prue's birthday. I thought she'd like it."  
  
"That's a good idea." Phoebe said. "I don't have a clue what I'm going to do for her."  
  
"I know; she's hard to shop for. You can help me with the scrap book, and then we can buy her something to go with it, if you want." Piper suggested.  
  
"I'd like that."  
  
They finished their lunch with sparse talk about the club, or the manor, or even Leo. Phoebe finished first, and watched Piper. Piper glanced at Phoebe out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"What?" Piper asked, chewing up a chunk of chicken.  
  
"Nothing," Phoebe answered with a grin.  
  
"What?" Piper persisted.  
  
"I was just thinking about that picture of you." Phoebe said. "The one where you're—"  
  
"Phoebe!" Piper warned. Phoebe knowingly shut her mouth. "Oh, I should burn that picture." Piper said more to herself than to Phoebe.  
  
Phoebe just giggled. Piper finished eating and set her box inside Phoebe's empty box. She looked over at Phoebe, and then laughed.  
  
"Come here." Piper said draping her arm over her sister's shoulders and pulling her over. Phoebe moved over closer to Piper and laid her head on Piper's shoulder. Piper kissed the top of Phoebe's head. "I love you, Pheebs." Piper said wrapping her other arm around her little sister. "Don't you ever forget it."  
  
"I won't, and I love you too." Phoebe said.  
  
"I wish the whole world was this simple." Piper said with a sigh. "I wish we could sit here all day long just like this."  
  
"Me too." Phoebe added. "Not as witches, but just as sisters."  
  
Piper nestled her chin on Phoebe's head. "I'm glad you came back from New York and that things happened the way they did."  
  
"Yeah, it wasn't the greatest feeling having Prue so mad at me. I'm glad we worked things out." Phoebe said.  
  
"Me too." Piper smiled.  
  
  
  
"GET BACK!" Prue yelled. "I'm warning you!"  
  
"Come on,"  
  
"No! Do you think I'm crazy? Those little twerps already ruined my favorite shirt! I'm not ruining another. Either he puts down the cup and the sucker or I'm staying back here." Prue was hiding behind a stack of boxes.  
  
"Prue…" One of the other photographers was pleading.  
  
"No, Jonathan, I told you!"  
  
"It was only one white shirt. You can buy them anywhere." Jonathan said.  
  
"No you can't, that white shirt was V neck, with three quarter sleeves and it fit perfectly! I loved that shirt!" She growled.  
  
"Okay, okay. We'll take the candy from the baby and tell him he can't have his juice too." Jonathan said making it sound like they were putting a puppy to sleep.  
  
"You make it sound so mean though."  
  
"What the taking candy from a baby part?"  
  
"Oooh," She sighed. "This isn't fair." Prue came out from behind the boxes.  
  
Jonathan smiled and hurried over to her side. "Here you go, Davy." He said handing the little boy over to Prue. She took him and sighed again. "Be a good boy for Prue."  
  
The little boy giggled and threw his hand up and his sucker fell. Prue yelped, and the sucker landed in her hair. However, the yelp startled little Davy and he tipped his cup over. Prue sighed out of frustration, and glared over at Jonathan.  
  
"Hmm, you have terrible luck with children." Jonathan said trying not to laugh.  
  
"Jonathan!" Prue hissed.  
  
"Okay!" He took Davy back, who was crying now. "See? You scare three year old children." Jonathan said with a tsk, tsk.  
  
"That's two shirts, Jonathan! TWO!"  
  
"Sorry." He said with a huge smile.  
  
"That's it. You're so great with these kids, you set them up, and I'll push the button on the camera. Got it?"  
  
"Got it." Jonathan said.  
  
Prue opened her mouth to say 'fine', but closed it when she felt something running down her leg. She slowly looked down and one of the little girls was pouring her juice all over Prue's pant leg. She looked back up at Jonathan with the look of death. "This day is just going to get longer and longer." She sighed.  
  
  
  
  
  
"We better get back, I gotta open the club in a bit." Piper said.  
  
"Okay." Phoebe bent down and picked up the boxes. Piper had just finished telling Phoebe stories from when they were little, or just telling her about their mother. Phoebe pulled Piper off the bench with her free hand. They walked over to a trashcan and threw the boxes, and cups away.  
  
"We'll start work on the scrap book when we get home, before Prue gets back." Piper said.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Phoebe said.  
  
Phoebe hurried up to Piper's side and interlocked her arm with her sister's. They were giggling over something when someone tackled them both to the ground. Piper looked up in time to see a man running off with her purse. There were people all around, so she didn't want to freeze him, in case some one farther off didn't freeze and noticed all the other people, who were frozen. She immediately got up and started chasing the man, but then noticed Phoebe was already after him. Phoebe dove at the guy knocking him to his feet. She grabbed Piper's purse back and looked up to see the man's fist coming at her face. Then she saw Piper take him back down. It all happened in the blink of an eye.  
  
"Watch out!" Phoebe yelled at Piper when the man got up and tried to hit her. Piper stood up and kicked him in the groin. His fist stopped heading for Piper and went to his groin instead. He doubled over in pain, and Phoebe whacked him across the back of the head with her shoe. He fell over unconscious.  
  
"Whoa, attacked by the non-magical." Phoebe remarked. "What a day!"  
  
"Call Darryl, we can't have this guy out mugging or attacking other people." Piper said handing her cell phone over to Phoebe. She was shaking too much to dial.  
  
"Calm down, Piper. We got him." Phoebe reassured her as she called up Darryl.  
  
Piper took a few deep breaths and listened to her sister talk to Darryl. Phoebe told Piper that Darryl said he'd be over as fast as her could, and that they should restrain him somehow until he could get there.  
  
"How are we supposed to do that?" Piper asked.  
  
"Do you have on any hose?" Phoebe asked.  
  
Piper blinked a few times too many. "I'm sorry?"  
  
"You know? Panty-hose?"  
  
"Yes, I do, and they're staying on under my skirt." Piper said.  
  
"We can tie him up with them if you take them off." Phoebe stated.  
  
"You want me to take my off hose in the middle of the Golden Gate Park?" Piper asked.  
  
"Well, yeah, no one's gonna see." Phoebe smiled. "I'll stand in front of you if you want me to."  
  
Piper sighed. "I can't believe you're serious."  
  
"Come on, Piper. We have to tie him up some how." Phoebe said. "Otherwise he might wake up and attack us again."  
  
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Piper started pulling down on her hose trying to keep her skirt from coming up. She had the hose down around her knees when an old man and woman walked by. Phoebe was facing the other direction, and so she didn't see them. Piper looked up and saw them staring down at her.  
  
"Yeah, hi, how are ya?" Piper muttered and then made a face at them.  
  
The old woman gasped and pulled on her husband who had a broad smile on his face.  
  
"Phoebe!" Piper growled. "I can't believe you're making me do this!" She slipped off her shoes and pulled the hose off, and then put her shoes back on. "Here!" She said handing the hose out to Phoebe.  
  
"Thank you, sweetie." Phoebe said mockingly.  
  
She knelt down next to the man and started wrapping the hose around him, tying it in knots, so he couldn't get loose. She also ran the hose from his hands to his feet, so he could just get up and walk away. When Phoebe was satisfied she stood back up next to Piper.  
  
"I hope Prue's having a better day." Piper said, rubbing the arm the man knocked her onto.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Let go!" Prue begged. "Please, let go!" She had her hand around a smaller one that had a fistful of her hair. "Crystal, let go of Prue's hair. It hurts when you PULL!" Prue finished in a scream as Crystal gave a sharp tug for effect.  
  
Crystal giggled as Prue screamed. Jonathan looked up from the other four children and smiled.  
  
"Jonathan, get over here!" Prue ordered.  
  
"Crystal, be a good girl, and give Prue her hair back." Jonathan said sweetly.  
  
Crystal looked up at him as if contemplating whether or not she would, and then she giggled and let go. Prue straightened up, rubbing her aching scalp.  
  
"Boy, Prue, you really must tick them off." Jonathan teased.  
  
"I didn't do anything, I just asked her to scoot over next to Casey."  
  
"She doesn't like Casey. Don't you listen to them?" Jonathan sneered.  
  
"Okay, that's it! I'm going home!" Prue said, throwing up her hands.  
  
"No, Prue…" Jonathan ran over and caught Prue's arms steering her back. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll help with the kids."  
  
"Fine." Prue sighed.  
  
They went back to work. Jonathan was telling the kids where to sit, and Prue was getting the camera ready. She wrapped her hand around the lens only to feel something sticky. She slowly pulled her hand back to find it attached to a glob of bubble gum, previously chewed.  
  
"JONATHAN!" Prue screamed.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Can I have my hose back now?" Piper asked Darryl. He opened his mouth, but Piper cut him off. "You know what? Never mind, I don't want them back."  
  
"Okay, well it's a good thing you caught him. Usually he strikes old women who can't fight back. I don't know why he attacked you." Darryl said.  
  
"Maybe he thought Piper was an old bag." Phoebe joked.  
  
"Pheebs, come on." Piper pleaded her to stop talking. "I want to get home some time today."  
  
"Right, well, I'll see you two later." Darryl said climbing into his car.  
  
Piper and Phoebe waved him off, and then climbed into the Jeep to go home. In the driveway to the house Phoebe busted up laughing. Piper turned to her with an eyebrow raised.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"I just can't believe he started biting the hem of your dress!" Phoebe laughed.  
  
Piper tried to keep a straight face, and then started laughing. "He had to have a few screws loose up there." She regained her straight face and said, "but that wasn't funny, Phoebe, I'm going to have teeth marks all over this dress now."  
  
Phoebe just laughed harder as Piper said this. Piper sighed and got out of the Jeep and went into the house. Phoebe was right behind her.  
  
Half an hour later Piper and Phoebe were cleaning up their scrapbook mess when they heard the front door open and close. Phoebe hid the box with their tools, and pictures. They heard the door open and close again. Phoebe glanced over at Piper, who shrugged.  
  
"No!" They heard Prue shout. "I said one more incident!"  
  
"Come on! It isn't that bad." They heard a man say.  
  
"Okay, the gum all over my hand was fine, I could deal with that, the-the juice all over my leg and shirt, and the sucker, and this big wad of gum right here, in my hair! I can't deal with that! You go back and finish the shoot yourself, Mr. Mom!" Prue shouted again.  
  
Phoebe and Piper jumped up and ran into the other room to see what was going on. Piper gasped when she saw Prue, and Phoebe had to hold in a giggle.  
  
"Prue? What happened?" Piper asked.  
  
Prue turned her glare on them. "Children happened. Lots of little bratty mischievous children!"  
  
Prue had a gum tangled in her hair, her shirt was stained with fruit juice as was her pant leg, she had chocolate smeared across her forehead; there was a little red handprint on her cheek, and a sucker stuck to the back of her shirt, which she wasn't aware of.  
  
"Prue, I can't do it alone." He argued.  
  
"Well, Jonathan, you were doing just fine earlier, and all I was doing was being terrorized." Prue said. "So have fun." She turned and marched up the stairs.  
  
Phoebe just looked at Jonathan.  
  
"Well, that's great." Piper turned to the man. "Jonathan, was it?" he nodded. "Great, we'll be seeing you." She ushered him to the door. "Oh, look! It's the door… and this is you going through it." She pushed him out and shut it.  
  
When she turned around Phoebe was looking at her. Piper glanced at the stairs, and Phoebe nodded. They clasped hands and ran up to find Prue.  
  
They found Prue in the bathroom inspecting the damage in the mirror. She glanced over when she heard her sisters at the door, and then she sighed.  
  
"How am I supposed to get this out?" Prue asked as if she were on the verge of throwing a tantrum. "Stupid little brats!"  
  
Piper went to Prue's side and took the mess in her hand to look at. "Oh, Prue it's not that bad."  
  
"Really?" Prue asked.  
  
"Yeah, I can get it out for you." Piper said.  
  
Prue turned and gave Piper a big hug. "Thank you!"  
  
The phone rang and Phoebe hurried down to answer it while Piper tried to help Prue get cleaned up. A few minutes later Phoebe came back up with the phone.  
  
"Prue, they want you back tomorrow to finish the shoot. They said something about a new batch of kids being added to the last, and two more photographers to help you out." Phoebe told her.  
  
"You can't be serious."  
  
"You wanna call them back?"  
  
"I can't call them back." Prue sighed. "I'll get fired if I say no. I'm sure they're already angry that I left today's shoot early."  
  
"Well, it sounds to me like they need a babysitter not a photographer." Piper said.  
  
"What can I do?" Prue muttered. "I'm wearing a raincoat and a hat tomorrow."  
  
"Won't that look cute?" Piper teased.  
  
"No, but the juice won't be a problem then."  
  
"I actually have a little jacket that you could wear, it's made of the same stuff, but it's stylin'." Phoebe said. "You can wear it if you want."  
  
"That would be great, thanks."  
  
"Okay, let's go down to the kitchen." Piper said.  
  
"Why?" Prue asked.  
  
"Cause I gotta use ice to get this out of your hair." Piper informed her, tugging her down the hall by the mess in her hair.  
  
  
  
  
  
"PIPER!" Prue wailed.  
  
"Oh, come on. It doesn't hurt that bad." Piper said, shushing her.  
  
"It does when you yank it out of my head!" Prue whined.  
  
"Oh, you big baby," Piper said giving one last tug. "There, it's all out."  
  
Prue's hand quickly went to massage her aching scalp.  
  
"Sure, you look all sweet on the outside, but get gum in your hair and you turn into He-Man with ice!" Prue remarked.  
  
"Well, I got it out too, didn't I?" Piper asked.  
  
"How much of my hair did you take with it?" Prue asked looking at the clumps and flakes of iced gum on the table.  
  
Piper glanced down at her watch. "Och, I gotta get to the club." She turned and headed to her room to get changed.  
  
"Oh! Yank and run. You're evil, Piper!" Prue shouted after her.  
  
"I know!" Piper called back.  
  
Prue turned her head at a giggling and glared at Phoebe. "What are you laughing at, little miss?"  
  
"You," Phoebe said with another giggle.  
  
"Is that so?" Prue asked. Phoebe nodded. "Alright then,"  
  
"Alright? That's it?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"'Fraid so. I'm in too much pain to come up with anything clever."  
  
"It can't hurt that bad."  
  
"Think Leo would heal it?" Prue asked.  
  
"Prue, get real." Phoebe laughed. "You coming to the club tonight?"  
  
"Definitely, after today's events I'm gonna need a drink or two."  
  
"Prue!"  
  
"What? I'm kidding." Prue said, putting her hands up in defense. Then she dropped her voice to a low undertone. "Boy, ever since you graduated. You used to be fun, ya know?"  
  
"Hah! I am still fun!" Phoebe said.  
  
"We better go get dressed too, then." Prue said still rubbing her head. "We can help Piper set up."  
  
"Good idea." Phoebe said.  
  
The two went up to their rooms to change their clothes. When Phoebe came downstairs Prue and Piper were sitting in the sitting room on the couch. Phoebe stopped at the foot of the stairs.  
  
"Hey?"  
  
Prue and Piper turned around to look at Phoebe.  
  
"You ready?" Prue asked.  
  
"Yeah." Phoebe said.  
  
"Well let's go." Piper said grabbing her jacket off the back of the couch.  
  
  
  
  
  
About an hour after opening the club Prue and Phoebe were sitting on the couch in the alcove where they always sat. They were having a sisterly conversation when Piper popped in and plumped down on the couch with them.  
  
"Hey, Piper?" Prue asked in a mischievous tone.  
  
"What?" Piper asked, knowing something was coming to get her.  
  
"Would you mind helping me tomorrow?"  
  
"With what?" Piper asked cautiously.  
  
"Well, see, I don't want to come home with gum in my hair again, and so I was wondering—"  
  
"No, Prue, did Phoebe even tell you what happened to us today?" Piper asked. Prue looked at her dumbfounded and then glanced at Phoebe. "I was mugged, and Phoebe caught the guy; then made me take off my pantyhose, in public, I might add, so she could tie him up for Darryl."  
  
"Your point?" Prue asked.  
  
"You know, I really just don't know." Piper sighed.  
  
"Great, so you'll help me with the brats tomorrow?"  
  
"Fine, whatever," Piper said heading back to the bar.  
  
"Hah! She agreed. Pay up!" Prue held her hand out to Phoebe, who grumbled and slapped ten bucks into the waiting palm.  
  
"You didn't mention that there's going to be twice as many children there this time." Phoebe pointed out.  
  
"She heard you tell me earlier. I can't help if she forgot." Prue said with a sly grin.  
  
Prue and Phoebe resumed their conversation when a young man approached Prue. Prue looked up and him and then shook her head slightly in a questioning manner. "Can I help you?"  
  
"I was wondering if you would bless me with you gracious beauty on the dance floor." He said stiffly.  
  
Prue looked him up and down. "How old are you?"  
  
"Age has no place in the heart of love." He recited.  
  
"Well, see, here in California it does have a place. That place is at that front door with an I.D. because without one you're too young to be in here." Phoebe said, pointing up the stairs.  
  
"I'll ask again. How old are you?" Prue repeated.  
  
The young man looked to be getting skittish. He glanced over at two other young men. Phoebe smiled at them and motioned with her finger for them to come over. Prue shot Phoebe a 'look' and Phoebe shot her another 'look'.  
  
"Hi, boys," Phoebe said to the young men when they came over. "This is Prue, she's my older sister." Phoebe tapped Prue on the leg.  
  
"Hi, boys," Prue greeted them with a wide grin. "Mind showing me your ID's?" All three of the young men seemed to get nervous until the first one spoke up.  
  
"Why should we show you our Id's?" He sounded half confident in himself.  
  
"Oh, maybe because we're owners here at P3, and if you're not of age then we get to call your parents, or…" Prue pretended to delve deep into thought. "Phoebe, help me out, what is our nice friend's name?"  
  
"Oh, do you mean our investigator friend?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Yes, that would be him." Prue scratched her chin. "What was his name?"  
  
"Hmm, is it Gary?" Phoebe asked. "Wait, no that can't be right…David…"  
  
"No, Derrick?" Prue offered.  
  
"Oh, I know…Darryl. Darryl Morris the investigator." Phoebe said.  
  
"That's it!" Prue looked back at the three young men before her. "So, I'll ask again. Your ID's please?"  
  
"How do I know you're actual owners? I thought that Peppy girl was the owner." The second boy said.  
  
Just then Phoebe motioned for Piper to come over. Piper caught her sister's eyes and hurried over.  
  
"Something wrong, ladies?" Piper asked professionally.  
  
"Not at all," Phoebe said. "Just trying to round up some identification here…"  
  
"Yeah, these boys aren't too cooperative." Prue added.  
  
"Boys?" Piper asked, looking at them each in turn. "Do you have any identification?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am," The first said proudly.  
  
"Well, my sisters here, who own their own share of the club were wanting to take a peek, I believe." Piper said.  
  
"Josh, just give her the damned Id so we can go." The third boy said to the first. He reluctantly handed the over to Prue and Phoebe.  
  
Prue and Phoebe looked at them and then passed them over to Piper. Piper nodded her head knowingly and tried not to laugh. "Says here that you boys are thirty-four, thirty-two, and thirty," Piper looked up at the boys. "That's older that me and my sisters, which I know you're not." She paused for effect. "Now, I can go call a friend of mine and check on these, or you can fess up and tell me how old you really are."  
  
"Damn it, Josh; you said these would work." The third said, stepping forward.  
  
"Shut up, Danny." Josh said.  
  
"I'm only fourteen." Danny admitted.  
  
Prue's jaw dropped. She thought they were young, but not that young. Piper tried to keep a professional face. "Josh?"  
  
"This is my nephew; I thought I'd bring him along. My id is legitimate." He said.  
  
"So, you're a thirty-four year-old male with no stubble?" Phoebe asked.  
  
Danny prodded the second boy. "Jake, fess up. I don't need no cops at my house."  
  
"Yeah, Josh, he's right. Ma'am, I'm only fifteen. Josh here is seventeen. It was his idea to sneak in here to begin with." Jake admitted.  
  
"Well, splendid. Now, shall we call your parents? Or Darryl? I'm sure my sisters have told you all about our friend, Darryl." Piper turned to Prue and Phoebe. "Right, my sisters?" They both nodded.  
  
Josh looked mighty upset when Jake said they'd call their parents and he purposely 'on accident' dumped his drink into Prue's lap. Prue immediately jumped up in reaction. Then she looked up at the smirking kid.  
  
"Why you!" Prue lunged for him. "Come here! I'll slap that smirk off your face, you prepubescent toddler!"  
  
Phoebe grabbed Prue around the waist and pulled her back down to the couch. Piper grabbed Josh's ear and twisted it up. "Time to go… I think you're parents will be please to pick you up at a club, stealing other people's drinks, which, by the way, you're too young for." She snatched the beer bottle out of his hand and slammed it down on a nearby table, dragging him towards the office. Prue glanced at Phoebe, and she jumped up to help Piper in case the teenage boys decided to give her some trouble.  
  
Prue got up to find some napkins. "I swear, the next time I have something dumped down the front of me someone is breaking." She said to mid- air.  
  
  
  
  
  
After closing time Prue, Piper, and Phoebe sat back in the alcove on the couch. Piper was exhausted, and Prue and Phoebe couldn't get over how young those boys had been.  
  
"How'd they even get in?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Beats me," Prue answered.  
  
"I'm ready to go home, how bout you girls?" Piper asked.  
  
"I'm right there with ya." Phoebe said.  
  
"Ooh, ditto." Prue chimed in looking down at her stained shirt.  
  
Phoebe got up and helped Prue up, and then they both pulled Piper out of the couch. Piper walked to the car groggily. Phoebe decided she would drive, and Prue helped a practically sleep walking Piper into the back seat.  
  
When they got home Piper was asleep in the backseat. Prue turned around to let her know they were home, but paused. She poked Phoebe in the side as she was getting out. She stopped at looked at Prue, who pointed at Piper.  
  
"You guys used to do that all the time." Prue whispered. "We'd go somewhere, and even if it wasn't that far away, you'd both be out of it in the backseat. Usually you were all curled up together. Grams and I would have to carry you in." Prue whispered.  
  
"Well, Piper's a little too big for us to carry in, so I think we should wake her up." Phoebe said quietly.  
  
"But she looks so cute."  
  
"Come on." Phoebe gave Prue a slight shove.  
  
Prue opened the back door and gently shook Piper's shoulder. "Sweetie, we're home. Come on…" Piper slowly let her eyes flutter open. Then she covered them with her arm.  
  
"Prue, those car lights, off!"  
  
"They won't go off till you shut the door." Prue told her.  
  
"Then shut it!"  
  
"But you have to get out first." Prue said taking Piper's hand and pulling her out.  
  
"I'm tired!" Piper whined.  
  
"Geez, you sound like you did when you were five." Prue teased, helping Piper into the house.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Piper muttered.  
  
"Remember you said you'd come with me in the morning." Prue reminded Piper.  
  
"I know, and I'll probably regret it too."  
  
Piper left Prue at the bottom of the stairs and staggered up to her room. Prue went to join Phoebe in the kitchen. Phoebe was pouring herself a cup of coffee when Prue came in.  
  
"Want some?" Phoebe asked lifting the coffee pot.  
  
"No," Prue held up her hands. "I'm likely to spill it on myself."  
  
Phoebe gave a little laugh and took a sip from her mug. "Just hasn't been your day."  
  
"I know it!" Prue agreed. "So what are you doing tomorrow?"  
  
"I don't know." Phoebe said. "Dad e-mailed me wanting to know if we could have lunch, so I think I might meet up with him for that."  
  
"That's good. At least you'll be out of the house." Prue said.  
  
"When will your shoot be over?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"If I'm lucky about three, and then I'm going to come home and relax." Prue said.  
  
"Yeah, right," Phoebe laughed.  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"When do you ever get to relax?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"You're right, well maybe I'll get lucky this time."  
  
"Maybe,"  
  
"Well, I need to get some sleep. Those little demons," Prue looked up at Phoebe. "No pun intended, wore me out."  
  
Phoebe smiled and watched as Prue made her way up to her room for some much-deserved sleep. Phoebe made her way to the laptop in the parlor to write her dad an e-mail.  
  
  
  
"Piper..." Prue whispered leaning over her sister's face. "Piiiiipppperrr..."  
  
Piper stirred but did not wake up. Prue was waking her up to go to work with her. Prue took some of her hair in her hand and dusted Piper's nose with it. Piper moaned and swatted at Prue's hair.  
  
"Okay, that's enough." Prue caught Piper's hand and tugged her up. "Wake up, we gotta get to work."  
  
"Alright." Piper sighed throwing the blankets off. "Go make some coffee; I'll be down in a bit."  
  
"You better, I don't wanna be late." Prue said leaving Piper to herself.  
  
Prue made her way down to the kitchen. She already had on the jacket that Phoebe was lending to her. It was slick and bright, not Prue's style, but there was no way any liquid would be able to soak through. Prue made herself some breakfast and sat down with a cup of coffee. She was practically done when Piper finally joined her.  
  
"You're not going to have much time for breakfast." Prue stated.  
  
"I'm just having some toast, and coffee." Piper informed her.  
  
She went about putting the bread in the toaster, and Prue got up to put away her dishes. Piper turned around to ask Prue a question and clumsily knocked her mug off the counter. She quickly froze it with a yelp.  
  
"Damn!" Piper muttered. "I just poured that." She looked up at her sister. "Think you can set the cup right side up, and put the coffee back in it?"  
  
"Simple." Prue tilted her hand and the cup righted itself and with a flick of her other hand all the coffee jumped back in. "There you go."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
They finished their breakfast and headed out to the car. Prue glanced over at Piper when they were both seated.  
  
"You okay?" Prue asked.  
  
"Fine, why?"  
  
"You just seem a little…off today." Prue said.  
  
"I don't know why, I'm just fine." Piper answered.  
  
"Well, in any case it won't last that long. After you deal with these kids you'll be ready to kill someone."  
  
"I doubt that." Piper laughed. "They can't be that bad."  
  
  
  
  
  
Phoebe hurried around the house, some how she had slept in very late. It was almost time for her lunch with Victor. She rushed her shower, and ended up borrowing some clothes from Piper's closet, since her own closet was in disarray.  
  
It took her ten minutes in Piper's Jeep to make it to the restaurant. Victor was just getting there, and she actually met him at the door. He told her he was running a little behind, and she laughed it off giving the same excuse.  
  
They got a booth by a bright window and settled in. After they ordered their food they started talking about how Piper and Prue were. Phoebe told her dad that they were fine, and then he asked about Leo. She told him he was good too. They sat in an awkward silence for a bit, and then Phoebe spoke up.  
  
"Um, Piper had a bunch of pictures out the other day and there was one of Mom, Prue, and Piper. Piper said it was when Mom was pregnant with me…"  
  
"Was it at a park, with a water fountain in the back?" Victor asked.  
  
"Yeah, it was."  
  
"I took that picture; we were having a 'fun day'. Your mom was tired of me and your Grams babying her since she was pregnant, so she demanded a day out without any protectiveness from anyone."  
  
"What were Prue and Piper like back then?" Phoebe inquired. "I mean I remember seeing them when we went back in time, but tell me what I don't know."  
  
Victor sighed thoughtfully. "You want to know about your sisters as children? Well, they weren't little angels; I can assure you of that." He let a small chuckle out. "I remember how much they used to play with their Barbie dolls though. Those two could play peacefully for half an hour, usually, before getting mad and fighting over who got to play with which Barbie. Prue got so mad once, that she took Piper's favorite doll and accidentally broke her head off. Piper wouldn't talk to her for days."  
  
Phoebe smiled as she listened.  
  
"Then your Grams took Prue to the store, and Prue used all the money she had saved to buy the newest Cabbage Patch doll, and she bought Piper a new Barbie."  
  
"That was sweet of her." Phoebe said.  
  
"It was, but Piper was pleased. She took the doll and gave Prue the cold shoulder for another day. Prue was very upset until Piper asked her to play Barbie's with her, and Piper let her play with the new one."  
  
"That sounds so cute."  
  
"Don't get me wrong, you all three were cute, but you weren't sweet and adorable. You were chaotic and always screaming or crying."  
  
"Sounds like we haven't changed much," Phoebe joked.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Prue! Get your ass back here!" Piper ordered.  
  
"Piper! There are little children here!" Prue shouted back.  
  
"I don't give a da—" Prue ran over and cupped a hand over her mouth.  
  
"You may not care what they hear, but their parents do!" Prue said.  
  
Piper pulled her hand off her mouth. "Well, then you better not leave me alone again! Got it!" She hissed.  
  
"Sorry." Prue said.  
  
A little boy about three feet from Piper was crying, and had been for the last half an hour. Piper finally turned to him with a red face.  
  
"STOP CRYING!" Piper screamed at him.  
  
His eyes got wide, and his jaw snapped shut. He didn't let out another peep, but his bottom lip quivered every time she looked at him.  
  
Prue hurried over to get her camera ready. She looked over at Jonathan who was feeding three of the little kids. The other two photographers hadn't showed up. Prue walked over to him.  
  
"Where are their parents? It's a photo shoot not a damn daycare!" Prue complained.  
  
"They have jobs too. They couldn't be here if the shoot was going to last all day." Jonathan said.  
  
"Well, maybe it wouldn't last all day if they were here to control their children!" Prue snapped.  
  
She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. She heard a loud crash and tore her hands away from her eyes. Piper was on the floor, and Prue's camera had been smashed to the floor.  
  
"Piper?" Prue asked. "What the…I mean… my camera!" Prue couldn't believe it was now in about twelve big chucks, and a hundred small pieces.  
  
"I didn't do it!" Piper said in her defense. "It was her!" Piper pointed at a girl with chubby cheeks, and then Piper stuck her tongue out at her. The girl balled up her fist and waved it at Piper.  
  
"What'd she do? Body slam you?" Prue asked, facing Piper.  
  
The girl charged at Prue's backside and rammed her little fists into the back of Prue's knees sending her clashing to the floor beside Piper.  
  
"Hmph," Piper grunted giving Prue an evil look. "Call it what you will."  
  
Prue got to her feet, and as she was helping Piper up the chubby- cheeked girl threw a doughnut box at Piper's head, as one of her little accomplices pulled on a tarp that was under Piper's feet. Piper went slamming back into the floor. Prue toppled over on top of her.  
  
"That's it!" Piper screamed in rage. She shoved Prue off her and dove at the girl. Prue grabbed her ankles making her come up short grabbing the girl. She just giggled deviously and ran off with her helper.  
  
Piper turned her glare on Prue. "Why did you do that!"  
  
"You can't beat the girl." Prue told her. "You just have to get a handle on your temper."  
  
"Prue, you had food dropped all over you! That was it! By the time I leave I'm going to have broken bones, that little bitch is going down!"  
  
"Piper!"  
  
"Don't you dare 'Piper' me!" Piper reprimanded her.  
  
"Fine, but I have an idea." Prue said, grabbing Piper's sleeve.  
  
She helped her younger sister to her feet. Prue found a chair for Piper to sit in, and then she got her a cup of coffee. When Piper saw Prue with the coffee she jumped back.  
  
"I don't think so, Prue. Not here."  
  
Prue looked down at the coffee and realized that she was bringing her sister steaming hot liquid with little jumpy kids running around everywhere, kids that liked to spill things on people. Prue quickly poured the coffee out, and went back for water bottles. Piper accepted the bottle and sat down with Prue in a chair next to her.  
  
"We're getting these kids back." Prue said in a whisper.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well, I'm the Photographer here. I say we do a 'little criminals' shoot." Prue smiled impishly.  
  
"How is that going to get them back?" Piper asked, rubbing the pain in her neck. One of the boys had chunked his football at the back of her head earlier, and it had bounced off her neck. Prue had to bribe Piper to make her stay.  
  
"Oh, you'll see." Prue simply said, glaring at the children as they ran around screaming.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Prue, I have to take this kid home, his parents are having car problems. Is that okay with you?" Jonathan asked, waiting on her to yell at him.  
  
"Sure, we'll be fine. Piper and I can handle it." Prue said. "But you better not be long." She added.  
  
"Great, see? I knew you'd love this, you just needed your sister around."  
  
"Of course," Prue said with a hint of sarcasm that only Piper caught.  
  
Jonathan left, and Prue turned to grin evilly at her sister. "You know where I showed you that rope was?" Prue asked, and Piper nodded. "And the scarves are in the wardrobe trunk."  
  
Piper nodded and went to get their supplies. Prue turned to all the kids, who were watching them curiously. Prue ushered them all into a group and told them they were about to get a huge surprise that they'd absolutely love. The kids, even chunky bully fists, crowded around patiently to see what it was. Piper returned with the rope and a bundle of scarves. Chunky bully fists sneered at Piper.  
  
"Oh, you're first." She muttered under her breath.  
  
Piper pointed at the chubby girl. "Why don't you come over here? I like you; you make things exciting. I'll let you have your surprise first."  
  
The girl came forward snickering at the other kids. She was shooting them a look that said 'Who's the kid goddess now?' Piper just smiled at her.  
  
Prue came up beside Piper. They were inside a building so Prue had previously shut and locked all exits. The girl looked up at Piper and Prue and then kicked Piper in the shins. Piper dropped the rope and the scarves and grabbed her throbbing leg.  
  
"Ow!" Piper screamed.  
  
Prue glared down at the girl. She was leaning against a table smiling and giggling at Piper. Prue squinted her eyes, and Piper looked over hearing a thunk and a squeal. The coffee pot had jumped out of the coffee machine and tipped over on the table, pouring hot coffee down the girl's back. Piper shot a knowing glance at Prue; she'd hug her and thank her later.  
  
"Bet that feels great." Piper said sarcastically to the girl.  
  
The girl reached for something under the table and brought it up. Piper threw her hands up freezing the room.  
  
"Piper?" Prue turned to see what was going on.  
  
"Okay, kicks and punches, and being a terrorizing little brat were bearable! But when she pulls out weapons, I get jumpy. Prue, this little girl is evil!"  
  
Prue sighed. "No, she's not…she's worse than evil. She's like the direct spawn of Satan."  
  
"Well?" Piper asked, point to the girl, who now had a metal baseball bat in her hands.  
  
"I'll get behind her and grab it. You just unfreeze her." Prue told her.  
  
Piper unfroze the girl and jumped to the side and the bat came smashing down into a metal fold up chair. She growled and turned on Piper again. She brought the bat back, and Prue grabbed it. She looked back at Prue.  
  
"I have had enough!" Prue shouted at her.  
  
This time she flinched. Prue grabbed her by the upper arm and slammed her down in the fold up chair. Prue helped Piper pick up all the scarves and the rope. They put the scarves on the table and took the rope, dividing a smaller piece from the larger. They turned and smiled down at the girl. She tried to get up and run, but Prue grabbed her by the shoulder.  
  
"Now, it's time for payback." Piper said with a wicked look to her.  
  
  
  
  
  
Phoebe unlocked the front door and peeked in. Seeing that no one was in sight she kicked open the door and pushed a big box in. She shoved it into the kitchen and carefully helped it down the stairs to the basement. She pushed it to a far corner and threw an old blanket over it. Smiling she went to the sitting room to relax. She decided she'd do a little more work on the scrapbook. Piper had showed her a few things she was going to do, so she thought she'd save them the time. Heading to the solarium where they had hidden the scrapbook, she got to work. While she was cleaning up the phone rang. Phoebe hid the box and all the scrapbook stuff once more, and went to answer the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Ooh, Pheebs, can you do me and Piper a huge favor?" Prue asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We need you to grab a checkbook, and come downtown to the police station." Prue said.  
  
"What!" Phoebe shouted. "Why are you there? What happened? Should I look in the book for something?"  
  
"No! Look…" Piper had grabbed the phone from Prue. "It's not like that. Get the checkbook and get down here!" And then there was a click.  
  
Phoebe hung up the phone and grabbed her purse, making sure she had the checkbook. Then she headed out to Piper's Jeep.  
  
  
  
  
  
"I can't believe this happened to us." Piper muttered sitting on the little cot-bed.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, she lied about everything." Prue said.  
  
"Right, they wanna see abuse they should look at me! I have bruises, Prue!" Piper sighed, watching Prue pace back and forth. "Would you please sit down? You're making me nervous."  
  
"I can't sit down."  
  
"Well, I'm sure we could bust right outta here without even being seen if you prefer." Piper said with a grunt. "The three step escape plan, freeze, move with mind, and run. We do that a lot, don't we?"  
  
"What is taking Phoebe so long?" Prue asked throwing her arms to her side.  
  
"Maybe she got pulled over for speeding." Piper giggled. "I'll keep her seat warm."  
  
"Right," Prue rolled her eyes. "Well, I did just call, so I gotta give her a little time." Prue finally sat down on the bed with Piper.  
  
"Well, at least we're in here because of a lie."  
  
"Actually, I think what we really did is much the same as what we're accused of." Prue said.  
  
"But we had good reason!" Piper defended. "She pulled a baseball bat on me, Prue!"  
  
"I know, maybe when Darryl gets here we can explain, and he'll listen. All those guys wanna do is eat those doughnuts." Prue said and watched another doughnut disappear into the large mouth of their guarding officer. "Okay, that is gross, he could at least chew." Prue said as he stuffed another in. "Oh, I just can't watch this anymore." With a flick of her wrist the box slid across the table and dumped into the floor.  
  
The officer looked around, the prisoners seemed to be having a conversation and not paying attention, although Prue was watching, and so he bent over, picked up the box, put all the doughnuts back in, and stuffed another in as though nothing had happened.  
  
"Oh, gross. That floor is covered in dirt." Prue said.  
  
"Wouldn't be that bad if the floor was at least a little clean," Piper added.  
  
The sat watching anything but the eating man. Finally, Piper giggled, breaking the silence in the cell.  
  
"What are you laughing at?" Prue asked, looking sideways at Piper.  
  
"At least we had fun in getting here." Piper answered. "I mean the look on her chubby little face when we did that…" Piper sighed in contentment. "It was fully worth it."  
  
Prue laughed a bit, and then agreed. "I got some adorable pictures too. Even if I am jailed for them,"  
  
"Phoebe really is taking the long way here." Piper commented. "She'll want the whole story, you know?"  
  
"I know, and we'll give it to her, relishing every detail as we tell the story." Prue smiled.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Piper was stretched out on the 'bed' and Prue was sitting next to her. They hadn't said anything for a while. Finally, after what seemed like hours they heard someone coming into the room. Piper sat up and saw a guard fumbling with his keys.  
  
"You two are outta here." He said gruffly. "Sister of yours is here."  
  
"Good." Prue said.  
  
"You just remember, you do anything like that next time…"  
  
"We're not going to do anything like that again." Piper said looking at Prue. "Trust me."  
  
The two sisters were led out to the front desk where Phoebe was standing. Phoebe hugged them both, and then her expression turned to one of disappointment.  
  
"I would expect something like this from someone like me, but from the two of you?" Phoebe lectured. "Let's go. Come on." She pushed them out towards the Jeep. "We'll go back and get your car, Prue." Phoebe informed them as they got into Piper's Jeep. Piper made to get in the drivers seat when Phoebe pushed her to the back seat. "I'll be driving, thank you."  
  
Prue and Piper both got into the backseat. Phoebe started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot. "You two have a lot of explaining to do."  
  
"Trust us, Pheebs, after we tell you our story you won't hold anything against us." Prue said.  
  
"It had better be a good story. That was quite a fee for the two of you." Phoebe said talking about the bail.  
  
"What do you care? It's our money anyway." Piper teased.  
  
"That's true, but still…that could have been used for food, or …" Phoebe's voice muffled a little.  
  
"Or what?"  
  
"Or new clothes," Phoebe said with a big smile.  
  
"Of course…" Prue muttered.  
  
  
  
  
  
"So, are you ready to tell me your story?" Phoebe asked carrying in two cups of coffee.  
  
Prue and Piper were sitting in the sitting room, Piper already had her coffee, and so Phoebe handed a cup to Prue and sat down on the coffee table.  
  
"Well, what happened was…" Prue first went into detail about how all the children were beating her and Piper senseless, and driving them insane.  
  
"And when Jonathan left Prue had an idea." Piper said. "She decided since we couldn't get any pictures worth anything with the way the children were acting that we would do a cops and robbers kind of thing. We didn't do anything bad to them. We just tied up a few. Tied them to chairs, with gas in their mouths… the good children…like the only two there were, dressed up as police men and ran around pretending like they were the captors."  
  
"Right, and we might have let them throw pastry at the prisoners…" Prue slowly added. "We got great pictures though."  
  
"So, why'd you end up arrested?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Well, one of the parents showed up and saw their daughter tied and gagged with cream filling all over her face, and she said we were abusing the children. We tried everything to convince her it was part of the shoot, but the shoot was originally supposed to be some kind of …"  
  
"Youthful Innocence," Prue finished. "Anyway, the mom got mad, called the cops, and we were arrested for neglect, property damage, and child abuse." Prue then went into a great detail about all the things they used on the children, such as hog tying them, blindfolds, gags, handcuffs from the prop trunk, and other things.  
  
"Jonathan tried to get us out of it, but he couldn't. So, he went back to his boss with the pictures, and if he likes them he's going to talk to the parents and try to get this wiped off our record." Piper explained.  
  
"Wow, you guys really did it this time."  
  
"But, Pheebs, the pictures really were extremely adorable." Prue said.  
  
"And I've got bruises to show for it!" Piper defended. "And many, many cuts and scrapes."  
  
"Well, you were right about one thing." Phoebe said.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"I don't hold it against you." Phoebe said. "I would've ended up ripping some little heads off."  
  
"Great, Phoebe's collection of shrunken heads," Piper laughed.  
  
"Hanging right in the attic above the Book of Shadows," Prue added. "That would be one heck of a sight."  
  
"I have to tell you though, Phoebe, innocence is overrated." Piper said with a sigh as she took a sip of her coffee. "However, coffee is not." She smiled and sank back in her chair. 


End file.
